Harley adding third wheel to collection
Harley-Davidson thinks its riders are ready for a three-wheeled hog.
The iconic motorcycle maker said Friday it will begin making three-wheeled motorcycles, also called trikes, in partnership with Lehman Trikes U.S.A.
Spearfish, S.D.-based Lehman already converts motorcycles made by Harley and other manufacturers into trikes, but the new line will be branded as Harley-Davidson and sold by its dealers.
Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson Inc. did not release further details about the new bikes or when they would be released.
“The activist hedge fund manager who tried to get McDonald’s Corp. to spin off company-owned restaurants last year is eyeing the fast-food company again. The news sent McDonald’s shares to a new six-year high.
McDonald’s said in a regulatory filing Friday that three investment funds managed by Pershing Square Capital Management LP notified it of plans to acquire $793.8 million of McDonald’s shares beginning in mid-August. It was not immediately clear whether the purchase had been completed. William Ackman, managing partner of Pershing Square, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
A purchase of nearly $800 million would amount to less than a 2 percent stake but would still make Ackman one of McDonald’s top institutional shareholders.
Last year, controlling 4.9 percent of shares, Ackman publicly pressured McDonald’s to spin off about 65 percent of its company-owned restaurants as part of an effort to boost its stock price.
“Despite strong opposition in Europe to the proposed marriage of French and U.S. telecommunications gear makers Alcatel SA and New Lucent Technologies Inc., it appears likely the $11 billion deal will squeak through when the companies’ long-suffering stockholders vote on Thursday.
The heads of the two struggling telecom equipment and service companies are hardly taking approval for granted, given the collapse of a prior combination attempt five years ago.
Serge Tchuruk, chief executive of Paris-based Alcatel since 1995, and Patricia Russo, CEO of Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent since 2002, have been busy promoting Alcatel’s proposed stock-for-stock acquisition of Lucent to the financial community.
“Gateway Inc., the third-largest personal computer company in the United States, said Friday that it rejected an unsolicited $450 million bid for its retail business from eMachines Inc. founder Lap Shun Hui.
Gateway said the Aug. 23 offer for the retail operations is not in the best interest of its shareholders.
Hui did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Analysts said Gateway’s rejection was no surprise.